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Fireworks stands open for the season

SUQUAMISH  Not only does Memorial Day weekend get people geared up for the summer in the Northwest, but so do certain businesses lining Highway 305 that are made from plywood and sell hundreds of cases of colorful explosives.

The firecracker season officially opened up to the public on Friday, as the owners of the pyrotechnic stands on the Port Madison Indian Reservation officially started selling the July 4th favorites.

Louie George, who owns Louies World Fireworks, said his stand was ready to sell on Thursday but was frustrated because he couldnt hawk any powder until Friday. The expression on his face would drop every time a car drove into his parking lot to see if he was selling yet.

But Ill give them a 10 cent tour and they browse and look around, he said.

Memorial Day weekend sees sales of simple fireworks such as bottle rockets, firecrackers, Roman candles and sparklers, George explained. He said he keeps the same types of fireworks on both ends of his stand so customers can see everything he has.

As the only stand on Highway 305 that is owned by one party (others are owned by two or more people), George said he ordered 500 cases to start off the season and will probably go through 1,000 by the time he closes on July 7.

Down the road at Georgia and Brad Georges Fireworks, the truck was in the process of unloading their inventory on Thursday afternoon.

As hundreds and hundreds of cases were being loaded into their stand. Georgia said people also started stopping by when their stand was open.

I think this year is going to be exceptionally patriotic because the country is united and I think the celebration of family, independence and freedom is going to be bigger this year than it ever has been before, she added.

Georgia also noted how the stands on the highway employ about 100 people alone for summer jobs, benefiting younger workers who can learn about customer relations and banking skills.

We do provide a tremendous amount of summer employment to people, she said.

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